Inside billionaire’s Triton sub that will dive to Titanic wreck – one year after OceanGate’s Titan disaster

Almost a year on from the Titan submersible disaster, a US billionaire has announced his intentions to return to the wreck of the Titanic to prove it can be done safely.

Larry Connor, 74, is sinking $20 million into his new submersible with the company Triton Submarines, who confirmed to The Independent that plans are in place to visit the wreck sometime in 2026.

He is partnering with Patrick Lahey, who has over 40 years experience with submersibles, as the joint CEO of Triton Submarines.

Lahey previously expressed his concerns about the actions of OceanGate, the company behind last year’s tragedy, which killed five people.

The submersible designer, who has visited the ocean’s deepest point with Connor, described OceanGate’s approach to commercial underwater exploration as “predatory” to The Times.

He was a close friend of Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 73, who died in the disaster, and explained that OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, was so manipulative that he could “convince someone who knew and understood the risks” to get on his “contraption” of a submersible.

Connor, a real estate billionaire from Ohio, told The Wall Street Journal: “I want to show people worldwide that while the ocean is extremely powerful, it can be wonderful and enjoyable and really kind of life-changing if you go about it the right way.”

The New Submersible

The new submersible will be known as the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer. The 4000 in the name refers to the depth it can reach, which is slightly more than where the Titanic lies at 3,800 metres.

It has a much smaller capacity than the doomed Titan submersible, which fit five people, and will only have room for two.

Triton Submarines confirmed to The Independent that unlike OceanGate they currently have no plans to offer commercial trips to the Titanic.

However, they do offer commercial ventures, which can cost as much as $750,000 to the Marina Trench.

Conor explained that while Lahey has wanted to build a submersible like the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer for some time, the technology to create it didn’t exist until recently.

“Patrick has been thinking about and designing this for over a decade. But we didn’t have the materials and technology,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “You couldn’t have built this sub five years ago.”

The new submersible will reportedly cost $20 million to make.

“We had a client, a wonderful man,” Lahey said. “He called me up [in the wake of the OceanGate disaster] and said, ‘You know, what we need to do is build a sub that can dive to [Titanic-level depths] repeatedly and safely and demonstrate to the world that you guys can do that, and that Titan was a contraption.’”

The new submarine is being advertised as the world’s deepest diving acrylic sub with a revolutionary “gull wing design” that will allow it to manoeuvre easily at depth.

The Titan, meanwhile, had a controversial carbon fibre hull and it is believed that the repeat trips it took to the Titanic weakened it over time, culminating in its “catastrophic implosion” last June.

OceanGate charged $250,000 a trip to the Titanic and had passengers sign a waiver accepting the possibility of death.

Triton Submarines: Depth and Safety

Triton Submarines has already proven itself to be a leader in its field, undertaking various record-breaking dives including the aforementioned trip to the Marina Trench.

The trench, which is the deepest part of the ocean, is 10,984 metres deep – more than double the depth at which the Titanic lies at 3,800 metres.

Unlike OceanGate’s self-confessed “experimental” submersible, Triton Submarines have safety accreditation, including the Triton 36000/2 which is the only fully accredited submersible that can reach full ocean depth.

The company’s safety fact sheet states: “Triton Submarines does not produce experimental vehicles, but series-built submersibles that are compliant and delivered with full certification by a third-party classification society.”

The Titanic wreck site

There are currently no plans for a manned trip to the Titanic wreck this year.

In July, RMS Titanic Inc, which owns the salvage rights to the wreck, plans to send a robotic to the site. This will be their first trip to the wreck since 2010.

As revealed on their website: “This expedition will utilise cutting-edge technology to focus on imaging and high-resolution photography of the site to preserve the Titanic’s legacy for future generations and scientific study.

“It will be carried out by ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) to survey the wreck site and debris field. The images captured will reveal important new insights into the condition of the site, areas and artifacts at risk, and contribute to ongoing conservation efforts and educational initiatives already underway.”

But despite the reportedly scientific nature of the study, the US government filed a motion to stop the trip from happening last year, citing the site’s status as a graveyard.

There have been no public updates since then and RMS Titanic Inc’s website is still advertising the expedition.

The Titan Investigation

Following the discovery of the Titan’s wreckage near the bow of the Titanic last June, it was announced that the submersible had been lost in a catastrophic implosion.

It is believed that this took place shortly after the sub lost contact with its ship, an hour and 45 minutes into its dive to the Titanic.

OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, 61, Hamish Harding, 58, and Shahzada Dawood, 48, and Suleman Dawood, 19, all perished in the disaster and were reportedly killed instantly.

An investigation was launched into what happened and the US Coast Guard confirmed to The Independent that it is still in its “fact finding” phase as of May 2024.

A spokesperson for the Coast Guard told The Independent: “The Titan Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) remains in the fact-finding phase of the investigation and is collecting all relevant evidence and information.

“A projected completion date is not available.

“The latter part of the fact-finding phase will include a public hearing, and the MBI will provide at least 60 days’ notice ahead of the public hearing.”

The Independent has reached out to Triton Submarines and RMS Titanic Inc for further comment.